
L 3 l/ A ~ 



60th Congress\ <;tji\jatp (Document 

2d Session I aniNA m ( No. 767 



AsburyChurchwell Latimer 

(Late a Senator from South Carolina) 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Sixtieth Congress 
Second Session 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
February 27, 1909 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
February 21, 1909 



Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing 



WASHINGTON : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : 1909 






JUL 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 
Proceedings in the Senate 5 

Prayer by Rev. Edward E. Hale 5,8 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. . n 

Mr. Hememvay, of Indiana 16 

Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 17 

Mr. Carter, of Montana 21 

Mr. Smith, of Michigan 25 

Mr. Flint, of California _ _ . 27 

Mr. Dolliver, of Iowa. jo 

Mr. Gary, of South Carolina 55 

Proceedings in the House 39 

Prayer by Rev. Henry X. Couden, D. D 39, 42 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina. . 45 

Mr. Bennet, of New York 50 

Mr. Lever, of South Carolina. 55 

Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina 63 

Mr. Stafford, of Wisconsin 67 

Mr. Ellerbe, of South Carolina _ _ . 7" 

Mr. Finley, of South Carolina 72 




riMEP. 



Death of Hon. Asbury C. Latimer 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 

Thursday, February 20, 1908. 
Rev. Edward E. Hale, the Chaplain, offered the following 
prayer: 

"For we know that, if our earthly housi of this tabernacle 

were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens." 

And He who hath prepared ;<v for this life "is God, who also 
hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit." 

And we strive earnestly "that, whether present or absent, we 
may be accepted of Him." 

Let us prav. Father, Thou art pleased to show to us day by 
dav, month by' month, hour by hour, that we are in Thy pres- 
ence always, and that we pass from this life to that larger life, 
yes, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye. 

Come to us to-day as we learn that another has gone from this 
circle and that Thou art pleased that he shall be serving Thee in 
that larger life. Speak to us, Father, and lead us as only a 
father can lead us, by Thine own care and love, that we may 
learn the lesson of life and of what we call death. We are al- 
wavs with Thee, and Thou art pleased from day to day to assign 
to us the dutv next our hand or the change through which we 
shall live. 

We ask for ourselves; we ask for those who are nearest and 
dearest to us; we ask for the State that he has served, and for 

5 



6 Proceedings in the Senate 

the nation, that with every such change we may come nearer to 
Thee and enter into Thy divine life. What we are here for is 
that Thy kingdom may come and Thy will may be done on earth 
as it is in heaven, and we accept the duty to enter into the life 
where a Father only can lead us, and to live and move and have 
our being in our God. In Him who is to us the resurrection and 
the life, the Savior of our lives, we ask it and offer it. Amen. 
i >ur Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is done in 
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And remove from 
us our trespasses. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory 
forever. Amen. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, his friends in this Chamber 
were startled Monday morning with the news that a surgical 
operation, which was very dangerous, had been performed upon 
my colleague, the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Latimer], 
and it is now my painful duty to announce that he never suffi- 
ciently rallied to make any headway and that he died this 
morning at 9 o'clock. 

I send to the desk a series of resolutions, for which I ask 
immediate consideration. 

The Vice-President. The Senator from South Carolina 
submits the following resolutions, which will be read by the 
Secretary. 

The resolutions were read by the Secretary, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and profound 
sorrow of the death of the Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, late a Senator from 
the State of South Carolina. 

Resolved, That a committee of ten Senators be appointed by the Vice- 
President to take an order arranging for the funeral of Mr. Latimer. 

A', solved, That as a further mark of respect entertained by the Senate 
for his memory his remains lie removed from Washington to SouthCarolina 
in charge of the committee, who shall have full power to carry these reso- 
lutions into effect. 



Proceedings in the Senate 7 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to the 
House of Representatives and request the House of Representatives to 
appoint a committee to act with the committee of the Senate. 

The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 

The Vice-President appointed as members of the com- 
mittee under the second resolution Mr. Tillman, Mr. Foster, 
Mr. Dillingham, Mr. Overman, Mr. Carter, Mr. Frazier, Mr. 
Smith, Mr. Dixon, and Mr. Johnston. 

Mr. Tii.uman. Mr. President, I send another resolution to 
the desk, for which I ask immediate consideration. 

The Vice-President. The Senator from South Carolina 
submits an additional resolution, which will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased Senator the Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to, and (at 12 o'clock 
and 12 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 
Friday, February 21, 1908, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

Friday, February 21 , igoS. 

A message from the House of Representatives transmitted to 
the Senate resolutions of the House on the death of Hon. Asbury 
C. Latimer, late a Senator from the State of South Carolina. 

The message further announced that the Speaker of the 
House had appointed Mr. Finley, Mr. Lever, Mr. Patterson, Mr. 
Ellerbe, Mr. Legare, Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina, Mr. Aiken, 
Mr. Bennet, of New York, Mr. Burnett, Mr. Cook, of Colorado, 
Mr. Stafford, Mr. Rodenberg, Mr. Hinshaw, Mr. Pollard, Mr. Lee, 
Mr. De Armond, Mr. Fairchild, Mr. Webb, and Mr. Kiistermann 
members of the committee on the part of the House to attend 
the funeral of the late Senator. 



8 Proceedings in the Senate 

Friday, February 5, 1909. 
Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I desire to give notice that on 
February 27 I will ask the Senate to consider resolutions com- 
memorative of the life and character of Hon. Asbury Church- 
well Latimer, late a Senator from the State of South Carolina. 

Saturday, Februai 1 27, 1909. 
The Senate met at 1 1 o'clock a. m. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Edward E. Hale, offered the following 
prayer: 

Behold I come quickly; and my reward is with m* . I" giin every 
man according as his work shall be. 

Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have 
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the 
city. 

For we know that ij our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. 

Let us pray. 

Father, Thou hast taught us this by Thy word in all ages bv 
Tin well-beloved Son. To-day we are to go back in memory 
to those who have served Thee here and are now serving Thee 
in the larger service of that other world. 

O God, be with us when we interpret history. Be with us 
Thou, when we look into the future to see what our own dutv 
may be in these days that are before us. Show Thv servants in 
the Congress, show all persons in authority in the nation, what 
it is to serve the living God and to bring in Thy law for our law, 
Thy rule for our passion, Thy strength for our weakness, and 
Thy love to be with us always, that we may bear each other's 
burdens, that we may find the duty that comes next our hands, 
that we may enter into that service which is perfect freedom. 

We ask it as Thine own children. 



Proceedings in tin SenaU g 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Tin 

kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven 
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as 
we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I submit the resolutions I send 
to the desk, and I ask for their present consideration. 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous consent, 
and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of the Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, late a Senator from the State of South 
Carolina. 

Resohn d, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased Sena- 
tor, the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates 
to pay proper tribute to his high character and distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolutions 
to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy thereof to the familv 
of the deceased Senator. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 

Mr. President: It is a little more than fourteen years since 
I was sent by the people of South Carolina to be one of their 
representatives in this Chamber. As things now are that is 
about one-third of the average lifetime of a man, and while 
during the time there have transpired many events of national 
importance, it seems but a brief period after all. Yet during 
this comparatively short span I have served here with five 
United States Senators from South Carolina, and after the 4th 
of March my sixth colleague will have taken the oath at the 
desk. It is a strange coincidence that all of these men who 
have come and gone save one were younger in years than I. 
Three of them have answered the roll call on the other side of 
the river. First in service, John Lowndes Manning Irby, bright, 
brave, witty, and genial; next, the knightly and courtly Joseph 
Havnesworth Earle, forceful, logical, chivalrous, and in every 
wav well equipped for work in the forum or on the bench; 
last, Asbury Churchwell Latimer, who, while denied in 
youth those advantages of education possessed by the other 
two, was in some respects the superior of either of them. 

His was not a career which one would naturally expeci I" 
follow from childish environment and family tradition, as was 
the case of the other two. While of a good family, his oppor- 
tunities, owing to the war, were poor and he early had to begin 
the struggle ot life, which barred him from the education and 
that acquaintance with books which are in great degree essen- 



12 Memorial Addresses: AsburyC. Latimer 

tial in a public career. But the obstacles he overcame and the 
force of character and native mental vigor which he displayed 
marked him as a man who of necessity would have made an 
impress in any walk of life. 

He was born in what was then Abbeville district, South Caro- 
lina, July 31, 1851 — Abbeville, which has given birth to or been 
the homes of so many of South Carolina's illustrious sons — 
Calhoun, Cheves, Noble, MeDuffie, Burt, Gray, McGowan, the 
two Wardlaws, Perrin, not to mention my present colleague. 
The original settlers of that county were Scotch-Irish Presby- 
terians, and French Huguenots. Their descendants have well 
illustrated the sturdy traits and high ideals oi their ancestors. 

Asbury Churchwell Latimer was only 14 when the war 
closed, and could not, on account of poverty, devote much time 
to getting an education, and early set about mapping out a 
career for himself and working toward making of life a success. 
He married quite young, one of the safest and best things for 
any man to do who wishes to preserve high ideals and gain the 
inspiration which alone comes from contact and association 
with good and noble women. He had a hard struggle for a few 
years as a farmer, but, possessed of great energy and a keen 
business sense, he soon outstripped most of his fellows in gather- 
ing a competence, and was so successful as a business man that 
in later years he had grown to be what in the South is con- 
sidered wealthy. 

After the death grapple upon which the people of South Caro- 
lina entered in 1876 with the carpetbaggers and negroes for the 
maintenance of white civilization, during which crisis'Mr. Lati- 
mer did his full duty, like many other farmers, he relapsed into 
indifference to public affairs. It was only in 1890, when 39 
years of age, that he came to the front as an active political 
factor in his county and State. He had moved to Belton, in 
Anderson County, in 1880, and when what was known as the 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 13 

"farmers' movement" or "reform campaign" shook the State 
from center to circumference, his sturdy good sense and forceful 
manner of speaking won him the confidence and support of his 
friends and neighbors, and he soon became an acknowledged 
leader. 

It was during the year 1890 when I was a candidate I'm 
governor that I first became acquainted with him, and I have 
had, therefore, the fullest opportunity to observe and note with 
surprise and admiration the wonderful growth of the man. 
His ignorance of public affairs and current political events was 
then so great that it would have been thought utterly absurd 
that two years later he would be a successful candidate for 
Congress against one of the ablest lawyers and best speakers 
in the State, or that it would be possible for him to hold that 
high position with great credit to himself and entire satisfaction 
to his constituents for ten years, and then be elected to the 
United States Senate over a man so popular that he had been 
recently elected governor and who was withal a good orator 
and able lawyer. These achievements in politics were not 
brought about by chicanery or trickery of party conventions, 
but through the primary system, where the appeal must be made 
directly to the voters themselves. When he entered the race 
for Congress in 1892 I doubt if he had ever attempted to address 
at any length any assemblage other than a Sunday school or 
other religious gathering, for his bent of mind was in that direc- 
tion. But with very little practice he developed into one of 
the best stump speakers we have ever had in the State. 

When he entered Congress he began to study public ques- 
tions, and the facility with which he mastered details and 
gained acquaintance with political and governmental history 
was well-nigh marvelous. Only those who know how ignorant 
and simple-minded he was eighteen years ago, as far as politics 
was concerned, could believe it possible that in so short a time 



14 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

he would become versed in public affairs to such an extent that 
he could venture to enter into the debates in the other House 
and in the Senate with any degree of safety or success. 

While a Member of the House he early became deeply inter- 
ested in the subject of rural free delivery, and he went about 
pressing experiments along that line and urging its universal 
adoption with such vigor that he must be considered as one of 
the pioneers and a potent instrumentality in the inauguration 
of that great and beneficent system. Another matter with 
which his name will long be associated was the good-roads 
question. So well posted did he become on this subject that he 
was invited to many States other than his own to address meet- 
ings called for the purpose of advancing the construction of 
better highways. 

He was an ardent friend of every measure looking to the 
advancement and uplift of the agricultural interests. Being a 
practical farmer, he understood the needs of other farmers and 
could the better set about aiding in legislation for their advan- 
tage. Early in his public career he became the staunch friend 
and supporter of the Agricultural Department, and was ever 
on the watch to aid in the development and growth of that 
great bureau. 

Up to the age of 40 it is doubtful if any man in American 
politics had made so little preparation for a political career as 
he. There are not any that I know of, except Andrew Johnson, 
who with so small a beginning, achieved a more signal success 
as a public man. He and I entered the political arena together 
in 1890, and were on terms of intimacy and friendship without 
a break during the entire eighteen years since. I have little 
or no doubt that had he lived he would have been reelected to 
the Senate. And thus one of the strange and inscrutable mani- 
festations of the Divine Providence is brought home to me, that 
a man so much my junior in years, and so strong and vigorous 



Address o) Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina r.5 

in body and mind, should have been snatched from a life of 
great usefulness and promise in such an untimely and un- 
expected manner 

He was in this Chamber, healthy and strong, attending to 
his duties as a Senator, one week, and the next we were called 
upon to witness his sudden and sad death. Of a sturdy and 
vigorous stock and with every promise of a long and useful 
career, he departed from among us, again illustrating, as is so 
often the case, the beauty and pathos of the lines : 

Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He 
cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, 
and continueth not. 

As the waters fail trom the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: 
So man Iieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they 
shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. 

It is idle for us to complain or to wonder at the inscrutable 
ways of the Creator. These things have always been and always 
will be. We come into being and'enter upon the battle of life 
full of ardor and eager for the fray. In the midst of our work 
the summons comes, and we know not why we are called, but 
we must respond. So we pass along down to the grave and 
join the great and silent majority who have preceded us. 

Senator Latimer had his faults and weaknesses, as all of us 
have, but he was generous, brave, and had many noble qualities. 
He is gone and we mourn his loss. He can not come back to us, 
but we must go to him in a brief while. 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave 

Await alike the inevitable hour: 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

78] J2 — S. Dor 7(17,60-2 2 



1 6 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 



Address of Mr. Hemenway, of Indiana 

Mr. President: I want to join my friends in adding a word 
of tribute to the memory of Senator Latimer. I learned to 
know his real worth while serving with him in Congress, and 
I am told that in his early life he selected the motto, "that 
success lay not in the character of the work, but in the vim 
and thoroughness with which it was executed." What a 
worthv precept that is! And it is especially worthy in this 
dav of tremendous business activity and wonderful national 
development. 

Most men who fail, fail not because of inability or incapacity, 
but because of the lack of thoroughness and judgment with 
which they undertake to do things. Senator Latimer stood 
high in the esteem of his colleagues in the Senate, and his work 
was highly appreciated. And we pay him the highest tribute 
when we sav that he was a high-minded, honest, industrious 
Senator, who loved his home, his State, and his country. 



Address of Mr, Overman, of North Carolina 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 

Mr. President: On the 4th day of March, 1903, thirty Sena- 
tors were sworn in and took their seats in this Chamber for a 
term of six years, and it is remarkable but sad to relate that in 
so short a space of time one-sixth of that number have passed 
into the great beyond. Of that number, together with nine 
others of our noble Senators who within that short time have 
taken their chamber in the silent halls of death, was Hon. 
Asbury C. Latimer, junior Senator from the State of South 
Carolina, in whose memory I, mindful of his long and 
patriotic public service, desire, to add a few words to those 
which have already been said in testimony of his worth and 
character. 

I would contribute a modest and simple tribute to our friend 
whose presence we miss and whose face we will see no more upon 
this earth. At the time he entered the Senate he was in the 
fifty-first year of his age — just in the prime of his manhood. Of 
splendid physique, healthy and robust, tall and stately, he gave 
promise from a human standpoint of outliving all of his class 
who were sworn in that day. 

He came to the Senate from the House of Representatives, 
where he had served for ten years. Like most of our southern 
youths, at the close of the civil war he had but few advantages 
for an education, and only attended for a few months in the 
year what was known as the "old field" schools. He worked 
upon the farm. He came up through poverty, amidst great 
struggles and tribulations, without a profession, from the farm 
to reach the greatest office in the gift of the people next to the 
Presidency. 

In his young manhood he became one of the most successful 
farmers in his community, and in 1878 he was happily married 



is Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

to Miss Alice Brown, a niece of Governor, afterwards Senator, 
Joe Brown, of Georgia. She brought to him beauty, refinement, 
and culture. She cast her lot with him for better or for worse, 
and throughout his life from that time until his death she was 
an inspiration to him. He was successful in business and was 
looked upon as one of the leading citizens in his county. 

When the great political upheaval came in South Carolina, 
when the fires of discontent against the old regime which had 
been for years smoldering in the hearts of the people, burst 
forth, when the dissatisfaction of the country people against 
what was called the ' ' aristocrats ' ' — the city people who for years 
had held all the important offices — at last found expression in 
the Farmers' Alliance meeting, in the public meetings, in meet- 
ings held in the little country schoolhouses all over the State, 
Mr. Latimer, under the battle cry of "Tillman and reform," 
sprang into the thickest of the fight, arousing the people of his 
section to almost a frenzy, and he soon became the leader of 
that faction in his county. It was hard to find a man to run 
for the nomination for Congress against the brilliant George 
Johnstone, one of the best lawyers and best speakers in the 
State, and who was then serving his first term in Congress, and 
who, according to the old custom which prevailed there, was 
entitled to an indorsement and another term. 

But some one must be found to oppose him, and at a late hour 
Latimer entered the list and announced his candidacy. He met 
Johnstone in joint debate, and, to the surprise of himself and 
to the great satisfaction of his friends, it was soon seen that he 
was easily a match upon the stump for Johnstone; and when 
the returns came in Latimer had won by a large majority. 
This was his first campaign. 

He was simple, but forceful and direct in speech, and never 
deceived the people. He was plain, but earnest and straightfor- 
ward. He understood the people and knew their wants. He 
promised them the reforms which they were demanding and did 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 10 

what he could for their accomplishment. He impressed himself 
upon all who heard him, and they supported him gladly. Four 
times after that he was nominated for Congress, and elected 
without opposition. He loved the people and they loved him; 
and he loved his State. He was ever watchful of their interest, 
and was soon recognized, not only by the people of his own dis- 
trict, but by the people of the whole State, as one of the most 
useful members of his congressional delegation. He was always 
trving to do something for the people of South Carolina, and 
succeeded where many times before others had failed. 

In 1902 he entered the race in the primary for the nomination 
for United States Senator against ex-Governor John Gary Evans 
and Senator John L. McLaurin; and after a bitter and most 
exciting campaign, in which he met upon the stump in joint 
canvass in every county of the State these able adversaries, 
everywhere winning the hearts of the people, he was chosen to 
succeed Senator McLaurin in this great body. 

As he was a faithful Representative so he was a true and 
faithful Senator. He never tried to advertise himself. He 
made no pretentions to oratory, nor to greatness, but was 
unassuming and did his work well, untiring and zealous in 
doing what he thought was best for the interest of the people 
and the welfare of his country. He seldom joined in the 
debates in the Senate, but when he did what he said was 
practical and to the point. 

While liberal and generous in his support of public measures 
intended to promote the prosperity of the whole country, in 
whatever was proposed to advance the interest of his State, he 
was zealous, alert, and his every effort was aroused and excited 
for its accomplishment. 

He was sincere, generous, genial, warm-hearted, and kind in 
his nature. He was a member of the Methodist Church and 
attended regularly church services on Sunday morning. He 
loved to join in the singing of the beautiful sacred hymns, and 



20 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

often his strong mellow voice could be heard in praise to God. 
He was charitable and gave cheerfully of his means to the sup- 
port of the church and her institutions. 

He was a devoted and indulgent father, a fond husband, and 
kind friend. He was never so happy as when at home on his 
farm in South Carolina, surrounded by his good wife, four 
charming daughters, and his noble son, of whom he was justly 
proud. It was there in the tranquillity of that sacred spot 
where he found his highest peace, and he knew from a glad and 
bright experience that earth holds no joy so sweet as the quiet 
contentment, the confiding love, and the hallowed associations 
which cluster around the ideal home. 

But while we mourn his loss and miss his pleasant voice, his 
kindly manner, and genial companionship, we may well pause 
at the threshold of the touchingly beautiful home life which has 
been enshrouded in impenetrable gloom and the deepest sorrow. 

In the presence of his grief-stricken loved ones and many 
sorrowing friends and a company of distinguished citizens who 
had come to pay their last tribute of respect, all that was mortal 
of Senator Latimer was laid to rest in the modest little ceme- 
tery near his beautiful home in the little town of Belton. 

He has passed on to join the great majority. It is not per- 
mitted for us to know where the loved ones go: 

But this we know: Our loved and dead, if they should come ttiis day, 
Should come and ask us, " What is life?" not one of us could say 
Life is a mystery as deep as ever death can be ; • 
Yet, oh, how sweet it is to us, this life we live and see. 

Then might they say, those vanished ones, and blessed is the thought, 
"So death is sweet to us, beloved, though we may tell you naught; 
We may not tell it to the quick, this mystery of death. 
Ye can not tell us, if ve would, the mystery of breath." 

The child who enters life comes not with knowledge or intent; 
So those who enter death must go as little children sent. 
Nothing is known. But I believe that God is overhead, 
And as life is sweet to the living, so death is to the dead. 



Address of Mr. Carta-, of Montana 21 



Address of Mr. Carter, of Montana 

Mr. President: On the 1st day of this month one year ago 
there was no more rugged, vigorous Senator in the Chamber 
than the junior Senator from South Carolina. Mr. Latimer 
was physically strong and promised a long and useful career. 
In the course of our proceedings, before the month had closed, 
this Chamber was brought to silence by the announcement of 
his death. His surrender to the final impulse was less to be 
expected than that of any other Member of the body. He was 
a man of good habits who had led a regular life, although a 
great and indefatigable worker, and his general appearance, 
with enduring strength manifest in every movement of his 
stalwart and splendid frame, indicated that it would be a long 
series of vears before the reaper would reach him. 

But he passed away, and a committee of the Senate was 
appointed to attend the funeral services at his home. I was 
appointed a member of that committee and was a witness to 
the tribute of affection and respect paid to his memory by t he- 
people who knew him best in the rural district in South Caro- 
lina where fie had lived throughout his life. It was a sad home- 
coming for the family; it was trying to the feelings and senti- 
ments of the committee to witness the manifestations of deep 
sorrow and grief, for it was touchingly shown that Mr. Latimer 
was a lovable man. Although rugged in manly strength, vigor- 
ous in mind, and stalwart in frame, he was of a gentle and 
kindly disposition. In all his relations with his colleagues 
deference for the wishes and feelings of others marked his de- 
portment always. His every action betokened gentle breeding 
and high sentiments. 



22 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

He entered this Chamber as a member of the Senate on the 
4th day of March, 1903. He was a trained legislator, because 
he had ten years of previous experience in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. His work in that body was not of a perfunctory 
character, for at the very beginning he had undertaken work 
of a serious nature. He was the pioneer in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, as was the senior Senator from Xew Hampshire 
[Mr. Gallinger] the pioneer in the Senate, of a movement to 
secure national aid in the improvement of the post-roads of 
this country, and his efforts in behalf of that movement ceased 
only with his death. He did not live to see the movement 
successful, but he did live to see the country awakened to a 
realization of the necessity for some broad and comprehensive 
action with reference to the important subject to which he gave 
so much earnest attention. 

His constant devotion to duty had much to do with the early 
appearance of the summons to lay down his burden. I doubt 
if the people of the country at large ever realized the exacting 
duties which devolve upon a Member of either House of Con- 
gress who is intent upon faithfully and fully discharging the 
duties of a Representative from a district or a Senator from a 
State. 

I entered the House of Representatives twenty years ago, 
and within the last few minutes I have run over the roll call 
of the Senate and the House as then constituted. I find that 
of the membership of this Chamber in 1890 only five remain— 
the vSenator from Rhode Island, the senior .Senator from Illi- 
nois, two Senators from Maine, and the senior Senator from 
Colorado. Within the period of twenty years all have gone 
forth, either into private life or "over the river to rest under 
the shade of the trees." But the dread reaper has garnered 
in a greater harvest than the call to duty in private life. 



Address oj Mr. Carter, 0} Montana 23 

Of the membership of the Senate of twenty years ago 52 
have died and only 28 survive, and of the 28 survivors 5 still 
remain members of the Senate After the 4U1 day of March, a 
few days hence, only 4 will remain. 

In the House of Representatives of that day. the House, of 
which the present presiding officer [Mr. La Follette in the 
chair] was a Member and a distinguished member of the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means, the roll call, if sounded now in the 
Chamber, could not be answered by many who were then dis- 
tinguished legislators, statesmen, and citizens of the Republic. 
I recall our late lamented President, who was then chairman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House; the great 
Speaker, whose wonderful achievements in parliamentary sci- 
ence challenged the attention of the world ; Hon. Nelson Dingley 
from Maine; William McKinley, of Ohio; Thomas B. Reed, of 
Maine, and a line of men as distinguished in their day as men 
have been in the history of this Republic at any time. Men who 
should be living now in the full vigor of manhood have broken 
down, one after another, under the pressure of the exacting and 
oppressive life which must be led by the Senator or Representa- 
tive who justly conceives his relation to his people or his State 
and to the eighty-odd million of people whose destiny and well- 
being are committed to the care of these two small bodies of 
men. 

Added to the ordinary burdens of the day is that oppressive 
sensa which comes from labor not only unrequited, but fre- 
quently misunderstood and often misrepresented. It sometimes 
happens, not through the malice of men, but through their 
thoughtlessness, that when every nerve is strained the Senator 
or Representative is set before the public as trying to do the 
very opposite of that which he is strenuously endeavoring to 
accomplish. Misrepresentation, harsh, cruel, and un-Christian- 
like criticism have much to do with breaking down the nervous 



24 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

and physical organism of struggling men in public life. I think 
we can take it for granted that the expectancy of life in the 
arena of public affairs is much diminished by the combination 
of burden and unjust criticism. 

Our late departed colleague and friend was of the earnest, 
tireless manner of man. His habits were good, his purposes 
were lofty, his devotion to his people unquestionable. Every 
clay was with him a serious day and every task a serious task. 
He lived an honorable life, and in the good opinion of all who 
knew him best those who loved him best mav find their great- 
est consolation. 

Death does not end all, even to those who have no faith in an 
existence beyond the grave; for as a pebble cast into the middle 
of the sea will send a tiny warning wave to every shore, so will 
each good influence once set in motion reach to the uttermost 
ends of human experience. In the good he did, in the example 
he set, and in the things he achieved for his home, his neigh- 
bors, and his country, our lamented friend left a common legacy 
for all mankind. 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Michigan 25 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Michigan 

Mr. President: It has been very hard for me to realize thai 
the late Senator from South Carolina has been called to his 
final home by death. He was the type of man that one would 
imagine might live always. Large, robust, strong physically 
and mentally, he looked as though he might stand as a great 
oak in the forest of life for many years to come. 

I had the pleasure of knowing the Senator from South Caro- 
lina for many years, first as a Member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, where I served with him for a decade, and when 
this place came to me and I entered the Senate for the first 
time as a new Senator I was led to a seat beside the late Sena- 
tor from vSouth Carolina. 

In this historic Chamber I was instructed, cheered, comforted, 
and stimulated by him, and the friendship which had grown 
warm and valuable through the years of our acquaintance came 
as a benediction to me in this new place. 

The late Senator from South Carolina was an extraordinary 
man. Full of fire and dash and impulse, yet he could control 
his feelings so admirably that few who came casually in contact 
with him ever realized the depth of his feeling or the scope of 

his desires. 

Mr. President, I enjoyed the friendship of the late Senator 
Latimer during the years of our acquaintance, and I rise to-day. 
informally, merely for the purpose of testifying to the beauty 
of his character, the strength of his friendship, the devotion 
of his heart and mind to the people he served, and especially 
the unflagging loyalty of that Senator to the State which sent 
him here. 



26 Manorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

South Carolina has sent to this Chamber many eminent men. 
Much of the history of our country is intertwined and inter-. 
wi iven with the experiences of South Carolina's representatives, 
and the distinguished senior Senator from that State [Mr. Till- 
man], whose colleague Senator Latimer was, suffered a great 
personal loss when he was called away. 

With that harmony and unity of purpose which should char- 
acterize the Representatives of States in this Chamber, they 
struggled together and won their victories together in this great 
field 

South Carolina has contributed many able men to the public 
service and should be proud of her Senators now here. Mr. 
Latimer was an honor to his State, an honor to his friends, 
and an honor to his country, and his memory will never be 
blotted from my mind. 

I love to think of him as I saw him last here in this Chamber, 
with quiet dignitv, unobtrusively moving among his fellows, 
vigilantly looking after the routine business of his State, and I 
love to think of him as I saw him across the sea, when, freed 
from that official care which is so burdensome to us all, he acted 
like a bov at plav as he moved about in that recreation upon 
which he had set his heart ; and the new experiences in strange 
lands kindled his soul and imparted life and refreshment to his 
last years. 

Mr. President, Senator Latimer was a fine type of the south- 
ern gentleman — quiet and unobtrusive; gentle, yet firm; gal- 
lant, yet modest; courteous, yet brave; and helpful to all with 
whom he came in contact. I hope, as this day is set apart in 
his honor, as a tribute to his memory, that it may also instill 
in the heart of every Senator his noble virtues, which shall ever 
remain as a rich heritage to the people of our common country. 



Address of Mr. Flint, of California 



Address of Mr. Flint, of California 

Mr. President: It was my good fortune to be intimately 
associated with the late Senator from South Carolina during 
the brief period which we served together in the Senate. We 
were members of the Senate Committee on Public Lands, and 
in the work of this committee I had an excellent opportunity 
to observe his character, disposition, and methods of performing 
the duties which devolved upon him. He was, first of all, a 
practical man; and being endowed with a large measure of 
native shrewdness, wisdom, and what is known as "common 
sense," his opinion, advice, and suggestions were eagerly sought 
and greatly valued by his colleagues of the committee. He 
was particularly well fitted for service upon this committee, as he 
always took a great interest in the public lands of the country, 
and especially those lands adapted to agriculture, with a view 
to making such disposition of them as would be of the greatest 
possible benefit to the farmers of the country. Having been a 
prosperous farmer himself, he was an enthusiastic believer in 
the efficacy of an early experience and training upon the farm 
for the development of the highest type of citizenship. 

He took great interest in the movement which was inaugu- 
rated some years ago for the enactment of a federal law for the 
reclamation of the swamp and overflowed lands of the country, 
along the lines of the irrigation act. With his usual energy 
and thoroughness, he c ntributed largely to the vast amount 
of data which was collected upon this subject, and was an 
enthusiastic supporter of the measure which was finally favor- 
ably reported by the Senate Committee on Public Lands. 



28 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

Senator Latimer was essentially a self-made man. The ob- 
stacles which confronted him in his early youth and during his 
voung manhood, which deprived him of the opportunities for 
academic training, have been dwelt upon at length by others 
who have delivered eulogies upon his life, and need not be 
enlarged upon by me. 

We read of Senator Latimer's first activities in the political 
affairs of his State when he took part in the campaign of 1876. 
In 1890 he was elected chairman of the Democratic party in 
Anderson County, and was reelected in 1892. He administered 
the affairs of his party so successfully that he was urged to 
enter the race for lieutenant-governor, but declined. Shortly 
after this he was elected as Representative in Congress from 
the Third Congressional District of his State, and entered upon 
his career of ten years of unbroken service in that branch of the 
National Congress. As a climax to this conspicuous career he 
was elevated to the Senate and had served five years when un- 
expectedly and greatly to our sorrow he was taken from among 
us. His friends and colleagues were greatly shocked by his 
sudden and untimely death, and with one accord we gather here 
to-dav to pay our respects and to honor his memory. Mr. Lati- 
mer was only a little beyond the point which is usually con- 
sidered middle life, and his sudden demise serves as a reminder 
of the uncertainties of life and the necessity for us to put forth 
our best efforts while we may in order that we may not leave 
our work undone. Though he died in the prime of life, his 
industrious habits, zeal, enthusiasm, and energy with which he 
pursued his daily tasks enabled him to perform an average 
man's work in the comparatively short period which he lived. 

From an humble farmer lad to the highest place within the 
gift of the people of his State is a record of which anyone 
might well feel proud. When coupled with this we have a 



Address of Mr. Flint, of California 29 

career that was beset with difficulties and obstacles from the 
beginning, all of which were overcome and success attained, 
notwithstanding the lack of the early opportunities which are 
usuallv essential to success, it distinguishes the man as a leader 
among men and as one whose example might well be emulated 
by the youth of our land. 

Senator Latimer's friends and neighbors, and all those who 
knew him best, testify with one accord to his Christian man- 
hood, his consistent living, his beautiful home life, and his 
loyaltv and devotion to his friends, which, after all, are more 
to be desired than great riches or great honors. 



30 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimei 



Address of Mr. Dolliver, of Iowa 

Mr. President: I appreciate very much the privilege, which 
has come to me by the invitation of the senior Senator from 
.South Carolina [Mr. Tillman], to say a few words about the 
public services of the late Senator Latimer. I have felt all 
the more drawn to this mournful duty, since the Senator an 
hour ago asked me to perform it, because during the whole- 
period of his service in the House of Representatives I was his 
colleague and his friend. 

In the early years of service in the House an opportunity, 
which never afterwards comes to us, is given of knowing with 
friendly intimacy those who are our associates in that service. 
So, it happened that, being young Members of the House, we 
were thrown much together and had that rarest of all t he- 
privileges of public life — the opportunity of close personal ac- 
quaintance. The House of Representatives, especially in those 
days, was a somewhat stormy and tumultuous body. It had 
its own standards for the recognition of ability and merit, and, 
tested by those standards, more severe, I think, than in any 
other arena of service in the world, Senator Latimer speedily 
rose in the estimation of his colleagues to a position of influ- 
ence and growing usefulness. 

Shortly after I came to this body he was elected to the Senate, 
and it was a special pleasure and gratification to me to find 
that we were to work together upon the same committee — the 
Committee on Agriculture. Sitting there side by side until he 
passed from among us, I had a still further opportunity to 
know him and understand his motives and views of life and of 
duty, public and private, and to set a somewhat accurate esti- 



Address of Mr. Dolliver, oj Iowa 31 

mate upon his character and upon his talents. So on this day 
I am glad to speak of his career, that fine and faithful public 
Service which ended so untimely with his death. 

It has been said here that he was without educational advan- 
tages in his youth. I believe that little or no evidence of that 
can be found in the things that he said or in the things which 
he accomplished while in the Congress of the United States. 
Education can do much for every man; and yet Senator Lati- 
mer brought to the work of his manhood a preparation still 
more valuable than the training of the schools — the discipline 
of hardship, the culture of experience, that excellent drill of 
daily labor which comes not from the academies of learning, 
but from a postgraduate course in the university of the world 
in which we live. 

I was especially impressed during my acquaintance with him 
with the fact that while he belonged to the period following 
the rebellion, inheriting possibly many of its peculiar points of 
view, yet he seemed less encumbered by them than any man 
from the South whom I have ever known. 

He was one of the pioneers of the new school of American 
political thought. He anticipated the disappearance of old 
theories. To him it seemed that the Government of the United 
States ought to be in a practical, working sense, the servant of 
the American people. He had the same interest that we all 
have in questions of war, and peace, and diplomacy, and com- 
merce, and industry, but to his mind the largest political 
questions in America were the questions that concern the lives 
and the homes and the welfare of the 80,000,000 of men. 
women, and children who constitute the Government of the 
United States. So in his service in Congress hardly a trace of 
partisan dogma can be found. Xor did he ever find trouble in 
the Constitution when the task was before him to strengthen 
the foundations upon which society itself rests. 
78] 52 — S. Doc. 767, 60-2 3 



32 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

He had a tempestuous political education in the same school 
that brought into public life the great abilities of our honored 
friend, the senior Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Tillman]; 
but he did not in this Chamber, it appeared to me, emphasize 
any of the acute and vital issues, the extreme and explosive 
opinions, which were a part of the political environment of his 
earlier years. I do not mean that he deserted his convictions, 
or held a loose view of his party obligations. I mean, rather, 
that in the interest of the work he was trying to do here he was 
able to subordinate himself, to push aside the narrow and 
transitory things which often embitter and enfeeble our public 
life, in order to find a surer road to the accomplishment of 
higher and better ends which he prusued. 

In both Houses of Congress his attention was given to every- 
day matters into which partisanship enters in no sense at all. 
He was a student of what may be called the "lowly problems of 
government." He recognized the fact that the great bulk of the 
business of the Congress of the United States is without any 
partisan color of any sort. And so it seemed to me that in 
these respects he dismissed more completely than any other 
man with whom I have been associated the notion that the 
Government of the United States is a partisan affair. We find 
him engaged in the obscure and unheralded work of the com- 
mittees to which he was assigned, and the questions that inter- 
ested him most were the questions that lie nearest to the earth 
and concern most intimately the daily lives and happiness of 
the American people. For example, he was an advocate, pos- 
siblv the most influential in the Senate, of good roads for the 
people of the United States. 

He had that vision which enabled him to see that the least 
excusable losses of American agriculture do not lie where we so 
often place them, but lie at the very doors of the people; and 



Address of Mr. Dolliver, of Iowa a 

the thing that seemed to impress his mind most as a member 
of the Committee on Agriculture was the fact that we lose more 
in the United States in hauling the crops which we raise into 
the town markets near which we live than we afterwards do by 
the conspiracies of the market place or the abuses of interstate 
commerce. I have often heard him say that if he could realize 
his dream of a model system of internal transportation on the 
common public highways of the country, he would have done 
more good than anybody could hope to do by legislative reforms 
of railway management in the United States. 

He was equally interested in the problems of popular educa- 
tion, especiallv in the South, and most of all the modern efforts 
to make our schemes of elementary education respond to the 
needs of our industrial life. So he labored quietly and mod- 
estly, without ostentation or display of any sort, in those tasks 
which appeared to him to represent in a comprehensive sense 
the living questions in which the Government of the United 
States ought to concern itself. 

For myself I not only respected his character, but I tried to 
studv the attitude of his mind and to appreciate that fine 
philosophy of our affairs which enabled him thus to throw aside 
partisan motives, to dismiss from his mind almost entirely the 
spectacular questions which are most attractive in our public 
life, and devote himself with earnest attention to the humbler 
questions which bring the Government of the United States near 
to the people, making it responsive to their needs and effective 
in the guidance of their social progress. It was against his 
homelv intuitions that the civilization of one century should be 
left helpless on account of a meager understanding of a Con- 
stitution made by the people of another. 

He will be remembered in both Houses of Congress for his 
stalwart strength of mind and of body. Above that, he will be 



34 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

remembered for a certain modesty and fidelity of character 
which made him a reliable worker in whatever field was assigned 
to him in the business of the United States. 

I do not know what his religious views were. He had a char- 
acteristic reticence as to the life he lived within himself. I 
never heard him say a word in all our conversations about that, 
but if his actions interpreted his faith — and the acts of men are 
the surest expression of their faith — we do not go astray in 
paying to him the loving tribute which belongs to a broad- 
minded patriot, a representative citizen, and an upright Chris- 
tian man. 



Address of Mr. Gary, of South Carolina 35 



Address of Mr. Gary, of South Carolina 

Mr. President: Men of exalted character and civic virtue 
have ever been thought worthy of admiration and their memory 
worthy of perpetuation. Throughout the land we have erected 
and are each day erecting monuments in honor of those who have 
been conspicuous for the possession of such attributes. It is 
the boast of Rome that the Via Appia and the Via Sacra are 
lined with monuments to her consuls, generals, and senators, 
men who have done some service for their country. 

Impelled by the same sentiment and actuated bv the same 
desire to put on record our appreciation of exalted character 
and worthy citizenship, we have this day paused in our labors 
and laid aside our calendar to honor one who exemplified in the 
highest degree exalted character and worthy citizenship — one 
who has done some service for his country. Surely, Mr. Presi- 
dent, on such occasion I should add my voice to the chorus of 
praise of him whose people are my people, whose friendship I 
had the honor to enjoy, and who has done much service for the 
State I in part represent. 

A distinguished queen's counsel has said : 

The highest gospel is a biography — 

And he well adds — 

So is the life of every good man. 

A casual study of the career and character of our departed 
friend will demonstrate how well his life illustrates this apho- 
rism. That he was a good man no one will deny. When an 
account shall have been given of the deeds done in the flesh 
many will be the acts of benevolence and deeds of kindness to 
his credit; for, like Abou Ben Adhem, he loved his fellow-man. 



36 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

He was ever ready to lend a helping hand to such as might 

need his assistance. But his was no ostentatious giving of 

charity that the world might see and applaud, but rather after 

the fashion of that enjoined in Scripture, which says: 

When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand 
doeth. 

Not only was he a good, a benevolent, and a kind-hearted 
man, but he was a man of statesmanlike qualities as well. 

"He dipt into the future far as human eye could see," and 
ere it was too late he sounded the first warning note to the 
people of my State against that steadily deteriorating process 
which goes on on every hand apace — that process of whose 
danger Horace Bushnell once said : 

The constant importation, as now, into our country of the lowest orders 
of people from abroad, to dilute the quality of our natural manhood, is a 
sad and beggarly prostitution of the noblest gift ever conferred on a people. 

Senator Latimer entertained similar sentiments, and he pro- 
claimed them in no uncertain terms. May we, Mr. President, 
have the wisdom to heed his timely warning while we are yet a 
homogeneous people. 

Then, too, Mr. President, as another instance of his states- 
manlike qualities and of his desire to promote the welfare of 
the masses, we might mention his insistent urging of our people 
to build better roads and build them upon scientific principles. 
To you people of the North this may mean but little, because 
you have them already, but to us of the South, to us who for 
centuries have been accustomed to and satisfied with roads that 
are a hindrance to progress and the development of our natural 
resources such stimulation as was given by his eloquent tongue 
was sadly needed. With us he was the pioneer along this line, 
and at times he seemed almost as one crying in the wilderness. 
I lis insistence and eloquence have already borne fruit, and had 



Address of Mr. Gary, of South Carolina 37 

he lived a few years longer he would have witnessed a full 
realization of his hopes. 

Did time permit I might recount the many blessings our peo- 
ple now enjoy as a direct result of his work in establishing 
free delivery of our mails in the rural districts. In this, if he 
was not the pioneer, he was, at least, the earnest, insistent, and 
effective worker. Indeed. Mr. President, his unceasing efforts 
seemed always to be toward bettering the condition of the 
masses. 

It has been said, however, that he was not an educated man. 
If by the term "educated" is meant "trained in college walls," 
the claim will be readily granted. But, sirs, if education signi- 
fies such training as fits one to think energetically and with con- 
centration along right lines, then he was essentially an educated 
man, albeit that education was not received in college walls nor 
at the feet of some mighty Gamaliel. He was what might be 
termed a "self-educated man." 

Born and reared on a farm, inspired by the observations of 
nature in its purest form and by the teachings of God-fearing 
parents, he early learned to cherish high ideals and lofty aims. 
With such a foundation upon which to build and being possessed 
of robust health, strong common sense, and a keen and un- 
erring perception of human nature, he felt less than most men 
that lack of college training, regarded by some as indispensable 
to the highest development. He was, indeed, another illustra- 
tion of what Burns so aptly says : 

The pith 6' sense and pride o' worth 
Are higher ranks than a' that. 

It is true that he took no conspicuous part in the great de- 
bates in this Chamber, yet he was always at his post of duty, 
ever readv to take advantage of any opportunity to befriend his 
people and ameliorate the conditions of the masses. But of his 



38 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

work as a legislator and of his usefulness as a Member of this 
body, there are others better qualified to speak than I. 

But it seemed fitting, Mr. President, that I, who have known 
him from early manhood till his untimely end, should speak 
of him as a friend, neighbor, and citizen. It seemed to me that 
it is proper that I, who was in a position to observe it, should 
convey to this body some idea of the profound sorrow that was 
felt and manifested throughout my State when it was learned 
that Asbury C. Latimer was no more. When it was learned, 
Mr. President, that the Black Camel had knelt at his door, that 
in the midst of life, duty, and usefulness his sun of life had 
gone down, the people felt that their friend and tribune had 
gone, that they had sustained a loss they could ill afford. But 
his career is ended, his noble work is done, and the world is 
better for his having lived in it. By his work the great masses 
of common people were made better and happier, more con- 
tented and more comfortable. The present condition of prog- 
ress, improvement, and happiness in the rural districts is a 
constant reminder of his friendship for the people, and on ac- 
count of this his memory will ever be cherished by them. But 
"let us seek no further his merits to disclose." 

Let us conclude this inadequate tribute by repeating, as ap- 
plicable to him, the words of one of South Carolina's most elo- 
quent sons, who said of another: 

He acted throughout life on the maxim that in morals it is more to 
deserve than to command success. 

He has left to his children, to the State of his birth and 
home a precious legacy of the lesson of his life. May it be an 
inspiration to us all, may we strive to imitate his worthy ex- 
ample, and mav his untimely taking off be to us a reminder that 
the voung may die, the old must die, and the wisest knoweth not 
how soon. 



Proceedings in the House 39 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 

Thursday, February 20, 1908. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain. Rev. Henry X. Couden, D. D., offered the fol- 
lowing prayer: 

Our Father in heaven, we find ourselves completely involved 
in the laws which Thou hast made. Thou art infinite; we are 
finite. Thou knowest the beginning and the end. We know 
onlv a little, hence we come praying for light that we may 
measure up to the obligations Thou hast laid upon us and fulfill 
all the conditions of life. "Thou giveth snow like wool; Thou 
seattereth the hoar frost like ashes. Thou casteth forth ice like 
morsels. Who can stand before Thy cold?" 

In the midst of the rigors of winter hundreds are forced to 
idleness, without the means of subsistence. Give us light that 
we may solve the economic, social, and industrial problems 
which confront us, to the end that all who will may work and 
subsist. 

Our hearts are bowed in sorrow, in that the Death Angel has 
visited our Congressional family and taken from us one who 
served with distinction on the floor of this House and was at 
his taking serving with equal distinction in the Senate Chamber. 

Our sympathies go out to his colleagues and friends. Espe- 
ciallv do we pray for the bereaved family, his wife and chil- 
dren. God give them grace, hope, and patience that in Thine 
own good time they shall meet again in a family reunion and 
stay in his presence forever, and glory and honor and praise be 
Thine. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



40 Proceedings in the House. 

A message from the Senate announced that the Senate had 
passed the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and profound sor- 
row of the death of the Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, a late Senator from the 
State of South Carolina. 

Resolved, That a committee of ten Senators be appointed by the Vice- 
President to take order arranging for the funeral of Mr. Latimer. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect entertained by the Senate 
for his memory his remains be moved from Washington to South Carolina 
in charge of the committee, who shall have full power to carry these reso- 
lutions into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to the House 
of Representatives and request the House of Representatives to appoint a 
committee to act with the committee of the Senate. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
Senator the Senate do now adjourn. 

Mr. Finley. Mr. Speaker, the House has been officially in- 
formed by communication from the Senate of the death of Hon. 
Asbury C. Latimer, junior Senator from the State of South 
Carolina, who departed this life at Providence Hospital, in this 
citv, at 9.15 o'clock this morning. At some future time I will 
ask the House to set apart a day at which time proper tribute 
can be- paid to the life, character, and public services of South 
Carolina's distinguished son. I ask, Mr. Speaker, the adoption 
of the resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives has heard with profound 
sorrow- of the death of Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, late a Senator of the 
United States from the State of South Carolina. 

Ri solved, That a committee of nineteen Members of the House, with such 
members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late 
Asbury C. Latimer the House of Representatives do now adjourn. 

The Speaker. The question is on the adoption of the first 
three resolutions. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani- 
motislv aarreed to. 



Proceedings in the House 4 1 

The Speaker. The Chair announces the following committee. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Mr. Finley, Mr. Lever, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Ellerbe, Mr. Legare, Mr. 
Johnson of South Carolina, Mr. Aiken, Mr. Bennet of New York, Mr. 
Burnett, Mr. Cook of Colorado, Mr. Stafford, Mr. Rodenberg, Mr. Hinshaw, 
Mr. Pollard, Mr. Lee, Mr. De Armond, Mr. Fairchild, Mr. Webb, and Mr. 
Kiistermann. 

The Speaker. The question is on the last resolution. 

The question was taken, and the resolution was unanimously 
agreed to. 

Accordingly (at 1 o'clock and 11 minutes p. m.) the House 
adjourned. 

Monday, February 1, igog. 

Mr. Finley. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the 
consideration of the resolution which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from South Carolina a-sks for 
the present consideration of a resolution, which the Clerk will 
report . 

The Clerk read as follows : 

House order No. 23. 

( hdered, That at the conclusion of other special orders Sunday, February 
21, there be a session of the House for the delivery of eulogies on the life, 
character, and public services of the Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, late a 
member of the United States Senate from the State of South Carolina. 

The Speaker. Is there objection? 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the resolution. 

The question was taken, and the resolution was agreed to. 

Sunday, February 21, igog. 
The House met at 12 o'clock m., and was called to order by 
Mr. Smith of Iowa, as Speaker pro tempore. 



4.2 Proceedings in the House 

The following prayer was offered by the Chaplain, Rev. Henry 
N. Couden, D. D.: 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, in whom we live and 
move and have our being, we would pour out the oblations of 
our hearts in gratitude and praise to Thee, the dispenser of 
all good gifts, and hallow Thy name in a faithful and unselfish 
devotion to Thee and our fellow-men, and thus prove ourselves 
worthy of all the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon us. We thank 
Thee for that spirit down deep in the hearts of men which 
recognizes and appreciates the nobility of soul in their fellows, 
which displays itself in a faithful service to the public weal, 
for this special service to-day, sacred to the memory of men who 
have conspicuously served their country in the Congress of the 
United States, and passed on to their reward. Grant, O most 
merciful Father, that their example may serve as beacon lights 
to guide us and those who shall come after us to high and noble 
living. Comfort the friends, colleagues, and families of the 
departed, and help them to look forward with bright anticipa- 
tions to that larger life beyond the grave, where there shall be no 
more parting, and where God shall wipe all tears from all faces, 
and where peace and happiness shall reign forever. In Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will read the next order. 
The Clerk read as follows : 

On motion of Mr. Finley, by unanimous consent — 

i Wdered, That at the conclusion of other special orders Sunday, Feb- 
ruary 21, there be a session of the House for the delivery of eulogies on the 
life, character, and public services of the Hon. Asbury C. Latimer, late 
a member of the United States Senate from the State of South Carolina. 

Mr. Finley. Mr. Speaker, I ask consideration of the resolu- 
tions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 



Proceedings in the House 43 

House resolution 585. 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of Hon. Asbvry Churchweu. Latimer, late a member of the Senate of 
the United States from the State of South Carolina, which occurred at 
Providence Hospital in the city of Washington February 20, 1908. 

Resolved, That the business of the House is now suspended, that oppor- 
tunity may be given to pay tribute to his memory. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the deceased, and in 
recognition of his distinguished public services, the House, at the conclu- 
sion of the memorial exercises of the day, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the family 
of the deceased. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to 
the resolutions. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani- 
mously agreed to. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from South Caro- 
lina [Mr. Finley] will take the chair. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina 

Mr. Speaker: Once more the Representatives of eighty mil- 
lions of people assemble, neither to engage in partisan debate nor 
to consider great questions of state. This occasion is one 
which demands no call of the "yeas and nays." It is of the 
highest privileged nature accorded any issue in this presence. 

In these closing days of the session appropriation bills re- 
quire early attention and great economic questions press hard 
for consideration and solution, but they have no bearing on the 
purpose of this assembling. We are here to do honor to the 
memory of a deceased colleague, the late Senator Asbury 
Churchwell Latimer. 

It is a fit occasion for serious contemplation of the fate that, 
sooner or later, awaits us all. For man must die. 

Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 

Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again; 

And, lost each human trace, surrendering up 

Thine individual being, shalt thou go 

To mix forever with the elements. * * * 

Thou shalt lie down 

With patriarchs of the infant world — with kings, 

The powerful of the earth — the wise, the good, 

Fair forms, and hoary seers of the past — 

All in one mighty sepulcher. ThMiiUs, 

Rock ribbed and ancient as the sun ; the vales, 

Stretching in pensive quietness between 

The venerable woods; rivers that move 

In majesty; and the complaining brooks 

That make the meadows green; and poured round all, 

Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste — 

Are but the solemn decorations, all, 

Of the great tomb of Man. 

45 



46 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

The late Senator Latimer was born near Lowndesville, 
Abbeville County, S. C, on July 31, 1851. Just one year ago 
yesterday he died in this city. How strikingly did his death 
exemplify that "in the midst of life, we are in the midst of 
death." In the prime of mature manhood, with the future 
beckoning alluringly onward, seized with a sudden malady, 
in a startlingly short interval of time this man of splendid 
physique, robust constitution, and superb vitality passed away 
like "the foam on the fountain, the dew on the heather." 
Born on a farm and reared as hundreds of his neighbors and 
thousands of the citizens of his State, young Latimer received 
his education from the country school. He then engaged in 
farming. He was successful in his pursuits and soon became 
a substantial citizen. In recalling what impressions of our 
departed colleague remain most striking on us, we are reminded 

that — 

If our virtues 
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd 
But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends 
The smallest scruple of her excellence 
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines 
Herself the glory of a creditor, 
Both thanks and use. 

Senator Latimer's personality was that of the distinctly 
persevering type — forceful and aggressive, forever pressing for- 
ward. He was a typical homespun man, who overcame great 
obstacles deemed insurmountable by many in his early strug- 
gles, and from his youth on his individuality left its impress 
with each encounter with his fellow-man. Latimer was not 
reckoned a power in the politics of his State until the early 
nineties. Up to that time the people of Belton, S. C, his friends 
and neighbors, considered him a safe, prudent, thrifty farmer, 
of practical ideas and plenty of energy, which combination 
brought a fair degree of success to his agricultural pursuits. 



Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina 47 

In 1892 he was the head official of the Farmers' Alliance and 
became a candidate for Congress againsl George Johnstone, who 
is a ripe scholar and a superb orator. The dogged tenacity of 
purpose, aggressiveness, and perseverance which characterized 
the entire life of the man wonderfully demonstrated itself in 
the campaign, and the outcome of the race was a safe majorit) 
for Latimer over the brilliant Representative who had acquired 
something of a national reputation, even in one term of service 
in this body. Entering the House in the Fifty-third Congress, 
he served continuously throughout the Fifty-seventh, declining 
then to stand for reelection after his ten years of service foi 
his people. 

His zeal, energy, and perseverance as a Representative were 
stamped with the seal of approval by the people of his district . 
for they returned him every time he sought that honor. In 
the beginning of his career in Congress, Senator Latimer was 
far more familiar with "Clark's Commentaries on the Bible" 
and the rules of the Methodist Church than he was with the 
Constitution of the United States and the rules of the House 
of Representatives. Realizing the lack of certain training for 
participation in great debate and without essaying the role of a 
student of great economics, he never attempted any "floor- 
leader" actions. But in the line of official duty immediately 
concerning his people — their wants and wishes — he served them 
diligently and effectively. And the bonds of intelligent sym- 
pathy and interest between them grew steadily as the years 
rolled by. 

Six years ago he was chosen United States Senator from 
South Carolina in the primary election, defeating five of the 
most prominent men in the State who were aspirants for the 
honor. The same quiet, unostentatious course that character- 
ized his service in the House was perseveringly pursued in the 
78132 — S. Doc. 767, 60-2 4 



48 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

Senate Chamber. There was nothing of the statesman of the 
old school about Latimer, and he made no pretensions that 
there were. He made no plays to the galleries, but quietly and 
faithfully attended to his official duties, serving the people of 
his State to the best of his ability, without attempting to focus 
the limelight upon himself. Whenever he took the floor it was 
to say something of immediate purpose affecting some legis- 
lation his people were interested in or would be benefited by. 

In addition to his individuality and perseverance, he was 
distinctly a practical man, possessed of an abundance of good, 
hard common sense. And although the farmer lad grew up to 
fill one of the greatest offices within the gift of the people of his 
State, he remained throughout his continued honors and pro- 
motions the same strong, natural type of man. His fifteen years 
of service in Congress made him none the less affable and ap- 
proachable to his old friends and neighbors and the constitu- 
ents of his State. There was a native ease and simplicity and 
dignity in his mannerism and bearing. 

Some writer has said of Robert Burns : 

No wonder the people of Scotland loved Burns as, perhaps, never people 
loved a poet. He not only sympathized with the wants, the trials, the 
joys and sorrows of their obscure lot, but he interpreted these to themselves 
and interpreted them to others, and this, too, in their own language. He 
made the poorest plowman proud of his station and his toil, since Robbie 
Burns has shared and sung them. He awoke a sympathy for them in 
many a heart that otherwise would never have known it. 

Even so, the farm lad of Abbeville County, S. C, strove 

against his early obstacles and disadvantages of thorough 

mental training for the important work of national legislation; 

vet with his personality and perseverance, he pressed forward, 

not backward, and, finding a seat in the Nation's Council by 

the will of his people, he exerted his energies and position to be 

of practical benefit to them. And the same zeal and fidelity 

marked his career in the Senate. His advocacy of good roads 



Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina 49 

and the improvement of the rural free delivery so continuously, 

measures with which he was familiar and could exert to its 

furthermost his zeal and influence in Congress, constrain one 

to the thought that it was the crying need for just reforms in 

the far-away rural sections of his old congressional district and 

his State that incited Latimer to offer whatever energies were 

at his command for the lasting benefit and advantage of his 

people. 

And in the heyday of his manhood — strong, hale, hearty — in 

the zenith of his public career, rounding out a term in the 

Senate of the United States, apparently with a long future of 

continued success and honors awaiting him, the "grim ferry 

man'' bade this distinguished mortal embark in that mysterious 

craft bound for that "bourne from whence no traveler returns." 

Thus died the kind father, the affectionate husband, the devout 

churchman, the practical legislator. 

What is death 
To him who meets it with an upright heart? 
A quiet haven, where his shattered bark 
Harbors secure, till the rough storm is passed. 
Perhaps a passage overhung with clouds, 
But at its entrance, a few leagues beyond 
Opening to kinder skies and milder suns 
And seas pacific as the soul that seeks them. 



50 Memorial Add) esses: Asbury C. Latimer 



Address of Mr. Bennet, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: It is sometimes difficult to realize that the 
permanent absence from among us which we call death has 
overtaken a friend. So to-day many of us find it difficult to 
realize that the absence from among us of Senator Latimer 
is anything more than one of those temporary separations of 
friends so common among those who are in public life. 

My acquaintance and friendship with Senator Latimer were 
brief. I knew him casually as a pleasant, active, friendly 
member of the Senate until in the closing days of the Fifty- 
ninth Congress we were both appointed — he by the President of 
the Senate, I by the Speaker of this House — as members of the 
Immigration Commission. The duties of that commission natu- 
rally threw us into close connection. I learned not only to 
regard him with respect, but with esteem and affection. There- 
was that about him, as the gentleman from South Carolina 
[Mr. Johnson] has mentioned, which drew to him the regard 
of men. His great frame incased a great heart, a great feeling, 
a great sympathy. 

I can see him now in our earlier days on the steamer crossing 
the Atlantic, when we were, as members of a commission, 
to be a great deal together, forming the acquaintance of each 
other. I can even vet bring back the memory of the long 
consultations, in which his native ability, rising far above the 
deficiencies of an early education, drove and drove and drove 
until the knowledge he desired upon any particular point was 
safelv in his possession, and once in his possession, never 
forgotten. 

I have said that he had early deficiencies of education. He 
had no early or other deficiencies of comprehension. He was 



Address of Mr. Bennet, of New York 51 

capable of ideas embracing propositions of the greatest scope. 
The gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Johnson] has alluded 
to his interest in good roads. I have never known a man, here 
or elsewhere, to entertain a more ambitious project than that of 
Senator Latimer in relation to the good roads of the United 
States. Upon the subject of good roads and agriculture he was 
always intent. 

His long training and deep interest in those subjects made 
him translate nearly every subject into the elements of either- 
I served with him on a subcommittee of the commission in 
southern Italy, in the island of Sicily, and I undertake to say- 
that before he left Italy, assigned as he subsequently was to 
northern Italv, to which committee I was not, he knew the value 
of farm lands from one end of Italy to the other, the productive- 
ness of the acreage in each part, the crops which would grow 
best everywhere, and it was nothing for him when journeying 
over the magnificent roads of southern Italy to stop the carriage 
and have some one who accompanied us with a camera to get 
out and take view after view of those splendid roads, to assist, 
as he frankly said, in the education, when he got back, of the 
American public on the subject of the benefit of good roads. 

He was an intense man. It is not extraordinary to me why 
he succeeded; he could not help success with the force and the 
power of his great intellectuality and the interest which he 
had in all the subjects within the scope of his desires. Not 
onlv did he tianslate everything he saw abroad into the terms 
of agriculture and good roads, but, above all, he translated them 
into terms of betterment for the people of his State. He was 
one of those men who were useful in service for his community- 
He gauged all things possible by whether it would be better or 
worse for the people whom he represented; and as to whether 
the interests of South Carolina would be bettered or not by the 
things that he saw, so he judged them. 



52 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latum ) 

A simple, kindly man, but full at all times of natural dignity. 
From amongst the farming class of the country, the sturdiest 
class in our country, this man came; but he was at home every- 
where. I have stood with him before high officials and watched 
his conferences with them. I have been with him at one con- 
ference or audience with a king of a European country; and it 
was all the same with Senator LATIMER, whether it was a col- 
league here, a farmer in his district in vSouth Carolina, or the 
King of Italv, surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of his 
great office. 

The gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Johnson] has al- 
luded to the fact that when he came to Congress he was, per- 
haps, more familiar with Clark's Commentaries on the Bible 
than he was with either the Constitution or Jefferson's Manual. 
The familiarity with the commentaries and with the Book con- 
cerning which the commentaries were written, continued to the 
end. On the steamer going over, we Americans of the commis- 
sion rather surprised, I think, some of the other passengers. 
On the Sunday afternoon, in addition to the usual morning 
services, we had gathered around the organ and spent a consid- 
erable season in singing familiar gospel hymns. It was a serv- 
ice in which the Senator delighted. I did not at the moment 
exactly understand it, but I subsequently came to understand 
it fullv. I have been with him in church in a foreign land, and 
I can testify not onlv to the depth and intensity of his religious 
feeling, but to the fact that he carried it with him under foreign 
flags, and it was as large a part of his daily being as any condi- 
tions could have been. I say that I did not at the time under- 
stand entirely his liking for these simple hymns; but when, just 
a year ago, he was taken from us and I was one of those ap- 
pointed by this House to attend his funeral service at Belton, 
I gained a wider and more thorough comprehension. 



Address of Mr. Bennet, of New York 53 

My estimate of Senator Latimer, already high, was raised 
bv the sight' of the church edifice in which he had worshiped. 
He had never permitted himself to be tempted away from the 
denomination which he had joined in his youth, though in the 
town in which he lived it was neither the most popular nor the 
largest. Around that simple country church no other atmos- 
phere was possible than an atmosphere in which would flourish 
a real love for and joy in the simplest kind of service of the 
true gospel. Our friend who has left us was a good husband 
and a kind and indulgent father. He had few faults, few 
defects. He was faithful in all things — faithful to his con- 
stituents, faithful to his family, and faithful to his State. 
Like all of us, he had his obvious limitations, but within those 
limitations he left no one thing undone. 

We have heard earlier in the day, in connection with the serv- 
ices in behalf of Senator Allison, of the "joy of service." 
There is such a joy; and during his fifteen years of sen-ice in 
either branch of this National Congress, that joy of service was 
possessed by Senator Latimer and was his chief and greatest 
compensation for what he did here. 

It is well for a country, well for a State, well for a district, 
when its Representatives are cast in such a mold. He repre- 
sented at the same time all that was valuable in the older 
thought and all that was best in the newer. He was conserva- 
tive where conservatism could be of benefit, and vet not 
ashamed, when his belief was formed as to the efficacy of a par- 
ticular project, to be a radical of the radicals in regard to that. 

We can not mourn our friend, because we do not know; 
beyond the mystery of the dawning of the new life we can not 
look. This brief, flitting life here is all into which our mortal 
eye can look, and we can either mourn or rejoice as the life here 
was. There is none among us who, on the day when he shall 
separate himself from this life, can look back across the days 



54 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimei 

of his pilgrimage with a clearer conscience and a better sense 
of duty well performed than Senator Latimer. With a life 
like that, why should we mourn for him who is gone? We can 
rejoice for all the good that was in those fifty-six years. We can 
offer to those whom he has left sorrowing behind him the con- 
solation that in his life he had many friends; that in his death 
he has lost none; that his works are written in the historv of 
his country ; and that by his living he has contributed something 
to the betterment of the world — to his part of the world — and 
so far as in him lay to all the world — contributed his part toward 
the solving of the great problems, contributed the wisdom and 
shrewd common sense which Providence gave him to the every- 
day business of this great legislative body, and to the manage- 
ment and control of things here. As it is, his record is made, 
and in the golden dawn of the far-off future, when again we 
shall see him face to face in another world, our desire should be 
to take to that meeting as good a record as has our friend who 
left us. 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 55 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 

Mr. Speaker: Death walks hand in hand with life. The one 
is the shadow of the other. Side by side with the strong, 
robust, healthy, is the ever-present companion of dissolution, 
decay, death. This fact was never more strikingly illustrated 
than when, just one year ago, the startling announcement came 
that Senator Asbury Churchwell Latimer was no more. 
This announcement was a distinct and decided shock to his 
friends and to the people of South Carolina, who had so long 
honored him with the highest gifts in their possession. -Born 
and reared upon the farm, trained in early life to invigorating 
outdoor manual labor, of strong and robust physique, with a 
constitution that seemed proof against all attack, accustomed 
to spending his vacation periods in the health-giving, health- 
preserving atmosphere of upper South Carolina, of even tem- 
perament, free from enervating worries, of temperate habits, and 
genial disposition, he would have been last chosen, in the body 
of which he was a Member, for grim death's visitation. Surely 
in the midst of life we are in death, and surely we know not the 
hour when that other unknown and unknowable life shall begin. 
But to him who is strong in Christian faith, death ceases to be 
a fearful contemplation, and instead becomes a friendly pilot 
of the weary and worn, the hungry and thirsty, on the pathway 
from the life earthly to the life heavenly. The Apostle Paul, the 
greatest of all the inspired philosophers, in his First Epistle to 
the Corinthians, robs death of its sting by showing it to be the 
necessary step from corruption to incorruption, from mortality 
to immortality, from trials and tribulations, cares and worries, 



56 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

to rest, peace, and endless happiness. How beautifully it is 
put; how comforting it is: 

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and an- 
other glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is 
raised in incorruption : 

It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is 
raised in power: 

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a 
natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 

And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the 
last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; 
and afterward that which is spiritual. 

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from 
heaven 

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heav- 
enly, such are they also that are heavenly. 

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the 
image of the heavenly. 

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not inherit the king- 
dom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 

Senator Latimer inherited his love for and interest in agri- 
culture from his father, who was a practical farmer of Abbe- 
ville County, S. C, which has given to the State and nation 
such a large proportion of those who have labored in war and 
in peace for the common good. Throughout his life, and espe- 
cially his public life, the late Senator directed his thoughts and 
energies to the betterment of farm conditions in his native 
State. He himself was a practical and most successful farmer. 
Having early learned the lesson that the prosperity of the 
southern farmer was greatly retarded because of a lack of im- 
proved methods in farm management, he put into practice upon 
his own farm every theory of farm cultivation and farm product 
utilization which had been put into successful operation by the 
best farmers of the country. It is said that his farm was, in a 
measure, the model for his entire community, and to this extent 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 57 

and in this respect his influence for good will be felt for years 
to come. 

Senator Latimer was the product, politically, of the revolu- 
tion of 1S90, which found its inspiration and leadership in the 
present distinguished senior Senator from South Carolina. He 
joined earnestly and heartily in that spectacular movement 
which must always remain a most interesting study to the his- 
torian. He was elected to Congress in 1892, and served in this 
body for ten consecutive years. It can not be said of his serv- 
ice that it was brilliant; he did not aspire to leadership, nor 
did he enter into the discussion of academic political questions. 
It can be said of him, however, in entire truthfulness and with- 
out the ordinary eulogistic fulsomeness, that he was an effective 
and energetic worker. 

Assiduous in attention to the details of his district work, 
prompt in the dispatch of business, endowed with plenty of 
common sense, and ambitious to serve faithfully the people who 
had honored him, at the end of his ten years of congressional 
work he was perhaps the most popular man in his entire dis- 
trict. That popularity had extended somewhat to the State, so 
that when in 1902 he entered the race for the United States 
Senate in the Democratic primary against five of the very ablest 
men of the State, it was not surprising that his candidacy was 
received with considerable cordiality wherever he went. The 
campaign was hard and exciting, but through it all Senator 
Latimer bore himself in such manner as to favorably impress 
his personality and the integrity of his purposes upon the 
people, with the result that he was nominated by a handsome 
majority, and subsequently elected without opposition. In the 
Senate, as in the House, he was a worker rather than a talker. 
He will live longest to fame perhaps as the advocate of federal 
aid to road building. He was regarded by the advocates of this 
idea as their most enthusiastic and effective champion, and 



58 Manorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

succeeded by numerous public addresses throughout the Union 
in bringing to the plan considerable and enthusiastic support. 

As a member of the Senate Committee on Immigration, he 
was appointed a member of the Immigration Commission, and 
during the spring and summer of 1907 toured the northern part 
of Europe investigating the subject of foreign immigration to 
this country. This investigation convinced him of the necessity 
for stricter laws against the influx of undesirable immigrants, 
and his opinion was set forth in an extensive report. 

Of his standing in the Senate I shall let his colleague speak. 
Senator Tillman says : 

We have been warm personal friends and political allies for nineteen 
years. I first became acquainted with him when I was governor of the 
State, and we have been warm friends ever since. 

Senator Smith, of Michigan, says: 

lie was unpretentious, kindly, generous; always just and strong in his 
likes and dislikes. When he gave his friendship he gave without limit. 
He was a manly man in every sense, and if he had lived to work out his 
career, which was evidently open to him in the Senate, he would have 
become one of the very strong men in that body. 

.Senator Kean, of New Jersey, says: 

While I did not know the Senator intimately, never having served with 
him on any committee, I was very sorry to hear of his death. It was a 
<reat shock to everyone. If you had looked around the Senate Chamber, 
and wondered who would be taken next, you would have never selected 
Latimer. 

Senator Carter, of Montana, adds this tribute: 

His sudden and unexpected death was a great shock to me. His genial 
personality and kindly disposition endeared him to all of his associates 
regardless of locality or party affiliations. He will be greatly missed and 
long remembered. 

On the morning of his death the distinguished chaplain of the 

Senate, Rev. Edward Everett Hale, touchingly referred to 

Senator Latimer's death in his opening prayer: 

Father, Thou art pleased to show to us day by day, month by month, 
hour by hour, that we are in Thy presence always and that we pass from 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 59 

this life to that larger life; yes, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye. 
Come to us to-day as we learn that another lias gone from this circle, and 
that here and there Thou art pleased that he shall be serving Thee in thai 
larger life. Speak to us, Father, and lead us as only a Father can lead 11-, 
by Thine own care and love, that we may learn the lesson of life and of 
what we call death. 

We ask for ourselves, we ask for those who are nearest and dearest to us, 
we ask f..r the State that he has served and the Nation, that we may come 
nearer to Thee and enter into Thy divine life 

Senator Latimer was a member of the Methodist Church, 

and in this connection I desire to read from the Southern 

Christian Advocate, the organ of the Methodist Church in 

South Carolina, its tribute and that of his immediate pastor to 

the late Senator: 

SENATOR A. C LATIMER. 
[Southern Christian Advocate.] 

The State of South Carolina is called upon to mourn for one of her 
most honored citizens, Senator Asburv C. Latimer. After an opera- 
tion upon him in a hosiptal in Washington, D. C, he died of peritonitis 
Thursday morning, February 20, 1908. His family was with him in his 
last hours. He was about 57 years of age. 

Senator Latimer was a man of high Christian character, and made 
a clean and pure representative in Congress. He was faithful in the 
discharge of his duties, both to church and state. A good and noble 
Christian man has been called to his reward on high. At our request, 
his pastor, Rev. R. L. Holroyd, has prepared the following tribute to 
his memory: 

" In the death of Senator A. C. LaTtmER, South Carolina Methodism 
has lost one of her most prominent members and staunchest friends. 
The Belton Church has lost a tower of strength. Brother Latimer was 
not only a liberal contributor to the church both at home and abroad, 
but he was a wise counselor and a sincere friend to the cause. The peo- 
ple had confidence in his religious life. His public prayers were very 
earnest and touching. Often have I seen him and many of the congrega- 
tion bathed in tears after what might be called one of his 'face-to-face 
talks with God.' He loved to talk to his friends on religious subjects. 
His conversion was clear-cut and unquestioned. He had his da 
trial, but he never lost his hold on God. 

"Brother Latimer possessed for me, after three years of intimate as- 
sociation, a most charming personality. I loved him for his own s.ikr; 
and now that he is gone, I pen these words with a sad heart — not sad 
because of any trace of doubt as to his future, but that inherent selfish- 
ness that hesitates to give up a loved one, though his state is far better. 



60 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

"My last conversation with him was at his own home on the evening 
of December 27, 1007. He was just up from a case of grippe and was in a 
few davs to go back to Washington. We raised the question of his per- 
sonal salvation. He talked freely, as he had done on former occasions. 
And after rehearsing some of the difficulties in his way, growing out of 
his public duties, he said, with triumph, After all, my faith is stayed on 
God. I do love His church and His people.' He died very triumph- 
antly. There was no cloud in his sky when the sun went down." 

His request was that he be buried from the little church at Belton, which 
he loved, upon which he had bestowed much thought and labor, and 
where he was for a number of years the faithful superintendent of the 
Sunday school. 

That his neighbors loved him was evidenced by the great number who 
gathered at the depot at Belton and awaited, in silence, the arrival of 
the special train that bore his body from Washington; and then through 
the intervening hours, viewing his body as it lay in the church so quietly 
and so much like his former self; and through the ceremony as provided 
in the book of discipline, and at the grave, until the last word was said 
committing his bodv to the grave," Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust 
to dust." 

One very touching scene in connection with the funeral was the pres- 
ence near the church of nearly fifty negroes who, desiring to see their 
former friend, were allowed to pass through the church. With subdued 
silence, many of them in tears, they viewed his body and went away 
with heavy hearts. He was a friend to all his people. They will miss him. 

Rev. W. T. Tate, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Belton, and 
Rev. A. J. Cauthen, presiding elder of Anderson district and a former 
pastor of the deceased, assisted in the furneral sen-ices. 

I shall now read an editorial from the Press and Banner, of 

Abbeville County, the county of his birth, and one of the oldest 

and ablest papers in the State: 

[The Press and Banner. Wednesday. February 20, 1908.] 
THE LATE SENWTOR LATIMER. 

The people of the State were shocked to learn of the sudden illness 
and death of Senator Asbury Churchwell Latimer. From the news 
sent out, hope of his recovery was entertained until his death was an- 
nounced. 

Senator Latimer's biography would read like a romance. Left, as a 
result of the war, with little means, he did not have the advantages of 
collegiate or even of high-school education, yet with this handicap he 
attained the highest position in the gift of the people of his State. And 
it may be truthfully said that he has fulfilled the trust to the satisfac- 
tion of his constituents. He was, above all things, a worker, self-reliant 



Address of Mr. L< ver, of South Carolina 6i 

and persistent, and while this accounts in large measure for that popu- 
larity which kept him for ten years in the lower House and afterwards 
elected him to the Senate, it must not be forgotten that the ability and 
aggressiveness that he developed as a stump speaker enabled him to hold 
at bay some of the strongest men of the State when they entered the 
lists for the senatorship. 

It is also well worthy of note that he was highly esteemed and hon- 
ored by the Members of the Senate. His appointment by the Senate as 
one of the commission to visit Europe and investigate the question of 
immigration is a testimonial of the high esteem in which he was held by 
that body. 

In the life of Senator Latimer there is a striking illustration of a man 
truly estimating his own capabilities, and not overestimating his capa- 
bilities. He knew the channel of his adaptability and he broadened its 
scope year by year. Heedless of the small talk, of his lack of fitness 
that was indulged in by many in the early part of his political career, 
he bent himself to the task of improving himself, and how well he has 
done it the record shows 

Mr. Speaker, the career of Senator Latimkr, from a farm 
boy of limited means and education to a seat in the greatest 
deliberative body in the world, is only another testimonial to 
the greatness and glory of our Republic, where all men stand 
upon a plane of equality and equal opportunity. With us birth, 
ancestry, wealth, and social position are small considerations 
in determining our choice of public servants. With us the ques- 
tion can onR* be, Is he fit, is he honest, is he truly representa- 
tive of the dominant ideas? It is the man we seek, the man 
representative of our traditions, history, thought, and aspira- 
tions. Further than this we do not look. Ours is truly a gov- 
ernment of the people, by its representatives for the people. 

In conclusion, I read the following beautifully expressed arti- 
cle from the Washington Herald of February 21, 190S: 

senator Latimer's death. 

Death at all times is awesome and profoundly impressive. To jour- 
nev from out this vale of tears into that undiscovered country whence no 
traveler returns is to enter a mystery older than the hills and more won- 
drous than the universe itself. 

Never is death more shocking, however, than when it seizes suddenly 
and almost without warning upon a man in the full bloom of health, 



62 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

strength, and virility — such a man as Senator Latimer, of South Carolina, 
appeared to be. A week ago he seemed reasonably sure of many years to 
come; to-day he is no more. A week ago he stood in the Senate Chamber 
of the United States — "the greatest and most august deliberative body 
on earth," as it has been so often and so truly called — the peer of any 
Member. His State had no higher honor to offer, his friends no greater 
boon to ask in his behalf. Nature seemed to have provided him with a 
robust constitution; pain, sickness, and vital weakness, apparently, were 
strangers to him. All in a moment his call came; he lingered a little while 
and passed away. His great office is vacant, his toga laid aside. He is 
but common clay, sinking into its destined lot. 

Men who pause not to contemplate the sadness of this shocking inci- 
dent in the country's forward march are not true men. The striking 
down of a public servant against whom no adverse word may be said is 
not an incident lightly to be thought upon. Those men out yonder on 
Capitol Hill hold in their keeping the destinies of the proudest Republic 
on earth. In the main they are good men, honest and patriotic. Never- 
theless, we laugh at them, gibe them, criticise them, and often abuse 
them a good deal more than the occasion always justifies. We do this, 
perhaps, because it is our way of doing things; as a matter of fact, we 
entertain for them down in our hearts a large measure of respect. 

The passing of Senator Latimer — more than usually pathetic, as such 
things go — moves us to profound sorrow. He seemingly had so much 
to live for; to die upon t he threshold of his career in the national forum 
was sad in the extreme. 



Address of Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina 63 



Address of Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina 

Mr. Speaker: We feel the real chill of death only when it 
touches the sacred precincts where friendship and family ties 
are cherished. 

Senator Latimer and I were reared in the same eountv. I 
succeeded him as Representative from the third district of 
South Carolina after his promotion to the United States Senate. 
The most cordial relations existed between us to the day of his 
death. All of us have known him as an able and faithful rep- 
resentative; many of us have known him as a man and a friend. 

To my mind there is no public man of recent years whose 
career is so rich in lessons of hope and inspiration to struggling 
youth as that of our lamented friend. He belongs decidedlv to 
that class referred to by Lord Bacon, who achieved rather than 
inherited greatness. What his opportunity was, that was the 
exact measure of his success. Asbury Churchwell Latimer 
was born near Lowndesville, Abbeville County, S. C, July 31, 
1851. Coming to young manhood during the wreck of estates 
succeeding the war of secession, he, like so many southern 
youths of this period, gave of his time to labor in repairing the 
ravages of war at the cost of his better education, which was 
limited to the opportunities afforded by the disorganized com- 
mon schools of that day. 

On the 26th of June, 1877, Mr. Latimer was married to Miss 

Sara Alice Brown, of Belton, S. C, and to them were born five 

children, all of whom survive. Shortly after his marriage he 

moved to Belton, Anderson County, adjoining the county of his 

birth. 

78132 — S. Doc. 767, 60-2—^5 



64 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

As a young man, Mr. Latimer was not dainty in selecting his 
work. His motto was, "That success lay not in the character 
of the work, but in the vim and thoroughness with which it was 
executed." Better things came to him because he did well the 
things of less import. 

In 1890 Mr. Latimer was elected chairman of the Democratic 
party in Anderson County, and was reelected in 1S92. So well 
did his career commend itself to the people of that county that 
he was proposed as a candidate for Congress, and was elected 
in 1892, serving continuously for ten years. In a heated pri- 
mary, in which he was opposed by some of the ablest men of 
South Carolina, he was elected to the United States Senate in 
1902. His further public career is a matter of public record 
here. 

Mr. Latimer grew with his opportunities. When elected to 
Congress he had never held office and knew not the arts of public 
speaking. But the good name of an honest and strong-minded 
ancestry was his heritage, and with these he linked frankness of 
speech and that energy that commanded success. Realizing the 
great opportunity afforded to the observant man by service in 
Congress, he set himself to the task of self -improvement. Xot 
only did he get a ready grasp of affairs in Congress, but he de- 
veloped into one of the most effectual stump speakers in his 
State. He knew well the channel of his capabilities, and he 
seldom ventured beyond, but with each setting sun he broadened 
and deepened this channel. 

Stranger than fiction is the fact of mortal existence. Some 
men spend their lives in the mire; some reach only the foot- 
hills; while a few climb to the eagle's crag on the cloud-shaded 
summit. 

And they die an equal death — the idler and the man of mighty deeds. 



Address of Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina 65 

When death claimed Senator I.atimkr on the 20th day of 
February, 1908, he was strong and vigorous of mind and body. 
Ripening experiences had made him a safe counselor and an 
able Representative. He was open to the appeal of his people 
and effectual in executing their wishes. Humanly speaking, we 
would stay the dread messenger who would strike man in the 
prime of his usefulness when, from his vantage ground, he could 
direct the steps and lighten the burdens of the struggling masses. 
This Senator Latimer did for his fellow-men, individually and 
collectively. Many were the young men, helplessly poor, who 
have been lifted by him to better things. His heart was tuned 
to sympathy's appeal, when in the struggles of his youth he felt 
her gentle touch. He championed the cause of the masses, and 
there he found that generous response that elevated him to po- 
sition and stimulated him to higher and nobler endeavor. 

He held his seat; a friend to human race. 

When the shadows gather, when the waves of eternity break 
at our verv feet, we pause in awe for a little moment, and with 
bowed head and with bated breath and in sorrow we lay <>ur 
dead to rest. But what is that which we do not and can not 
bury? Yesterday it moved and animated this helpless mass, 
holding it up face to face with God, in whose image it was cre- 
ated This is the spark of divinity, the real man. And is it 
dead? No more than the steam dies that yesterday quickened 
the giant locomotive. Returned to its original elements, yes; 
but not dead. Scientists tell us that annihilation is impossible 
in nature. Our thoughts, our words, our deeds — these are hut 
evidences of the existing soul. These live when empires have 
crumbled. Then who will say that the fountain from which 
they spring has perished? Who will say that nature, constant 
in all things, in this one instant reverses its law anil permits the 
annihilation of the soul? 



66 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

No; in the essentials of being, our friend still lives, and will 
live throughout the ceaseless ages. Addison, the greatest of 
English critics, said of the soul : 

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself 
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years. 
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, 
Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, 
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. 



Address of Mr. Stafford, oj Wisconsin 67 



Address of Mr. Stafford, of Wisconsin 

Mr. Speaker : Were it not for the many amiable and endear- 
ing qualities that won my friendship for the late Senator Asbury 
C. Latimer, I would not be here paying my meed of praise to 
his memory. His strong individuality marked him as a man 
of commanding intellect, of strength of character and deter- 
mined will that brought him to the exalted position which he 
held in the Senate and which had found recognition by service 
for five terms in the House of Representatives. To serve six- 
teen years continuously in the highest legislative councils of 
the nation is a distinction rarely achieved and shared only by 
those 'who have special merit and who prove by their devotion 
to service and loyalty to cause their worthiness of trust and 
confidence. But too rarely does this sacrificing service meet 
with proper appreciation by constituents whose representa- 
tives seek to do their utmost in their behalf. 

A fourth of his living years was spent in the public service. 
The inestimable record he bequeathed to the State he honored 
is measured by the high reputation he gained that in this long 
period no suspicion of disloyalty to trust was ever cast upon 
his fair name. 

With the untarnished record in public, private, and civic life 
that Senator Asbury C. Latimer bestowed upon his State, 
South Carolina may well place in its hall of notables this exem- 
plar of civic righteousness, exalted purpose, and devoted pub- 
lic service, to be remembered by the present and coming gener- 
ations as worthy of emulation and pride. If her succeeding 
public servants prove as faithful to trust as this dutiful citizen 



68 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

of the Republic, its interests and that of the Union will be 
secure so long as the sisterhood of States remains intact. 

A year has passed since his friends and colleagues were 
startled by the death of this apparently strong and well man, 
and in that brief span of a twelvemonth the appreciation in 
which he was held by his colleagues has not abated, nor will 
the perspective of history change the estimate that was placed 
upon him by his coworkers, who were best placed to judge of his 
work and of his worth. 

The trait that impressed me most and must have left similar 
impression upon others was the absence of all sectional feeling 
in his attitude toward men and measures. He breathed no 
spirit of hate or hostility toward the North, though he was 
born and his young manhood was spent in the days of his State's 
travail following the civil war. It is this mellowing trait that 
so reflects the life, attitude, and trend of the new South that 
made Senator Latimer a living exponent in principle and in 
achievement of the new policy of rejuvenation and rehabilita- 
tion of the Southland. 

His labors in the cause of immigration and of movements 
indissolubly connected with his State and country's best develop- 
ment show that he was abreast in thought and movement, and 
was keen to recognize the opportunities of the present and the 
potentialities of the future. 

Time has leveled the man of strong body and iron will to the 
memory of the past. Among the many Senators whose deaths 
in the last session eclipsed in somber shadow both House and 
Senate, no one is more sincerely missed than the illustrious 
son of the Palmetto State. He had a geniality that won him 
friends on first meeting. None could be his enemy and everyone 
his confidant. His beaming and open countenance reflected the 
honest)' of purpose that was the inspiriting motive in all his 



Address of Mr. Stafford, of Wisconsin 69 

career. No wonder, then, that as the representatives of the 
Senate and House returned the erstwhile healthy body to the 
native clay of South Carolina, Senators and Representatives 
who had associated with him in daily legislative work for years 
were really grieved at the loss of this sage counselor, wise legis- 
lator, and true friend. 



70 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 



Address of Mr. Elleree, of South Carolina 

Mr. Speaker: To the soldier who, drunk with excitement 
and the lust of battle, goes forth to fight, and dies facing the 
foe, we give the name of hero. 

Yet the narrow confines of the hospital ward is often the 
scene of far braver struggles than those of warfare. In Feb- 
ruary, 1908, at Providence Hospital in this city, Senator 
Asbury Latimer made a last heroic resistance to the great 
enemy — Death. 

With no martial music to inspire him, with no cheering army 
to make him forget the danger, he fought for life steadfastly, 
silently, heroically, and when vanquished he died like a hero, 
with a smile for those who loved him. 

And Senator Latimer longed to live. Life had meant to 
him successful achievement of ambitions which had grown 
with his growth. 

It is hardly possible that as a youth even imagination whis- 
pered to him of the honors he would win in the future, for 
Asbury Latimer as a boy had only one claim to fortune — he 
was an American! 

That, and that alone, made possible his wonderful progress. 

In another land even his indefatigable energy, his receptive 
mind, and his ready grasp of conditions could never have met 
with the acknowledgment that was given to them in this great 
Republic — this Government "of the people, by the people, and 
for the people." 

Year by year, as one by one obstacles in his pathway were 
overcome, his ideals grew higher and another step was taken 
toward the honored position which he held at the time of his 
death. 



Address of Mr. Ellerbe, of South Carolina 71 

It is not my purpose to review the life and work of Senator 
Latimer. That has been already fully and ably done by my 
colleagues. I would simply add my tribute of admiration and 
respect for those qualities of heart and brain which made Sen- 
ator Asbury Latimer a true and worthy Representative of the 
proud old State of South Carolina. 



72 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 



Address of Mr. Finley, of South Carolina 

Mr. Speaker : On the 20th day of February last the announce- 
ment was made to the House that the Hon. Asbury Church- 
WELL Latimer, an honored Member of the Senate of the United 
States, a former Member of this body, and a distinguished 
citizen of the State of South Carolina, had passed away. Senator 
Latimer's illness was of short duration. He died at Providence 
Hospital, in this city, surrounded by the members of hisfamily— 
his sorrowing wife and grief-stricken children. Everything 
that human agency could accomplish had been employed to 
prolong his life and to combat the fatal disease. On an occasion 
like this we are brought face to face with the realities of life and 
the certainty of death; that when life's activities are ended we 
must cross the river, where passengers go over, but do not 
return. We pass from mortality in this life to immortality 
beyond the grave. 

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 

I have never been able to understand how one can believe 
otherwise than in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. 
This life is but a span; the future is eternity. Preparation is 
made here for the life to come. We have the great apostle 
saying : 

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most mis- 
erable. 

So that the man whose hope in Christ extends beyond the 
grave, at death is not miserable. 

Senator Latimer was born July 31 , 1851, on his father's farm 
near Lowndesville, Abbeville County, S. C, where his early life 
was spent. His father was a farmer, and the future Senator 



Address of Mr. Finley, of South Carolina 73 

was brought up inured to all the practices and usages incident 
to a boy's life on the farm. He attended the old-fashioned coun- 
try school. When his services were needed, he labored on the 
farm. His early experiences included the years preceding and 
including the civil war. When this cruel war was over, the 
people of the Southland commenced anew the struggles of life, 
and the future Senator, in common with others, worked. This, 
nowever, proves the stability of our institutions — that the way 
to the highest position is open to all. Senator Latimer pos- 
sessed splendid talent for business. He succeeded to an eminent 
degree in all of his business undertakings. In the memorable 
campaign of 1876, when the white people of South Carolina 
used every effort to redeem the State from carpetbag, scalawag, 
and negro domination, Senator Latimer played an important 
part. Bold, aggressive, and patriotic, he assumed a leadership 
that inspired his neighbors and produced results. I remember 
how Anderson, his home county, contributed largely to the 
election of Wade Hampton, governor of South Carolina, and the 
restoration of white rule in the Palmetto State. In 1890 he 
took an active part in party politics, contributing to the elec- 
tion of governor, now Senator, Benjamin Ryan Tillman. He 
declined to permit his friends to use his name for lieutenant- 
governor on the ticket with Governor Tillman. 

In 1892 he was elected to Congress from the Third Congres- 
sional District of South Carolina; was reelected to the Fifty- 
fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congress^. 
During his ten years' service in Congress he endeared himself 
to his constituents by industriously looking after their welfare 
in a material way. In 1902 he was elected to the United StateN 
Senate over strong competition in the Democratic primary. 
Senator Latimer had at heart the welfare of the rural popula- 
tion. He labored industriously to promote their interest. On 
account of his environments, largelv conditions growing out of 



74 Memorial Addresses: Asbury C. Latimer 

the civil war, he was denied ample educational advantages. He 
made up for this in a large measure by effort and continuous 
industry in after life. Success in life must be measured by re- 
sults accomplished. Judged by this standard, Senator Lati- 
mer's life was a success. He started in life handicapped by 
many disadvantages. He earned the good will and well done of 
the people amongst whom he lived. He achieved political 
prominence and wealth. On the occasion of his funeral, one 
year ago to-day in the Methodist Church where for a quarter 
of a century he attended and was an active and influential 
member, at his home town, Belton, S. C, the highest tribute 
that could be paid to Senator Latimer was paid by his neigh- 
bors, rich and poor. Every class of those amongst whom he 
lived sorrowed and lamented for that they had lost — a friend. 
" Peace to his ashes." 

Mr. Finley. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
Members who desire to do so may have leave within five days 
to print remarks in the Record on the life, character, and pub- 
lic services of the late Senator Latimer. 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Now, in pursuance of the sev- 
eral resolutions and as a further mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased, the House (at 5.28 o'clock p. m.) stands ad- 
journed until 1 2 o'clock to-morrow. 

O 



Lb S 09 



